


The half-Dane

by Blue_Apple_Queen



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Chance Meetings, Family Drama, Gen, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Apple_Queen/pseuds/Blue_Apple_Queen
Summary: “You look a lot like your father.”Strange, she thought. She had never heard that before, and hearing it from a Dane warlord made it even odder.-Or: Sigefrid lived and meets with his brother's daughter by chance.





	The half-Dane

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'm working on the Saxon Bride...But first let's have a nice Uncle/Niece encounter. 
> 
> Or maybe not. Another thing to be clarified, I know that Aelfwynn is Aethelred's child in the books, but I'm basing this on the TV series; in which is left clear that she's Erik's.

Aelfwynn’s father had never been fond of her. As a girl, she had barely noticed. Likely because she rarely saw the man himself.

She had grown up in her mother's state, away from the intrigues of her father's court. Her mother raised her as she ran the country. It was no secret that the true Lord of Mercia was no one but Aethelflaed of Wessex.

It had always felt like her father could barely stand to look at her. His eyes would narrow as they met hers, a brilliant blue, and under her watchful gaze he would snort and turn away. Why, she had never known.

Sometimes, his stare would remain on her golden hair for long, though he never approached to praise her looks or to ruffle her locks.

She knew that her mother had shared a close relationship with her own father, Alfred of Wessex, while lived. But Aelfwynn and Aethelred didn't. She had tried to impress him through her achievements, though the man cared little for how well she could read and write, ride or fight.

With the years, she had come to accept that it was likely because Aelfwynn was the only child Aethelflaed had bored him. A _girl_ , a daughter and not a son. It wasn't uncommon for him to voice his complains about his wife, often in public. And while her mother never seemed faced by his words, the man had ceased to have an importance on her mind after that.

Aelfwynn loved her mother dearly, and it was her one true wish to become like her in the time to come.

When someone told her that they were alike, Aelfwynn would take the compliment to heart. It happened quite a lot, in fact. Her tutors would praise her, comparing her wits to the ones of her mother.

Maybe it's because of all of this that it comes like a slap to her face when the Dane speaks.

“You look a lot like your father.” He musters, his eyes running through her face. His voice comes out rough and, dare she say, pained. “Even dressed with those mercian clothes.”

 _Strange,_ she thought. She had never heard that before, and hearing it from a Dane warlord made it even odder.  

Her grip on the sword tightened, but she made no move to attack. And neither did her opponents.

The leader, the man that had spoken, stood tall and sturdy amongst the group of men. He seemed to be older than most of them, with lines on his hardened face and streaks of white on his braided black hair.

It had been a foolish choice, to go out riding so far from the camp.

She had no doubt that, should Aelfwynn try to launch herself at them she’d be quickly subdued by their number and greater strength. She knew a lost battle when she saw one, though that wouldn’t keep her from trying.

For the moment, she spoke back to the man.

‘’I believe you have mistaken me for someone else.’’ She offered a smile, tight as it was. ‘’I will see myself away from here, since I’m most likely not the one you are after.’’

She made a gesture to move, making the man that was standing closest to her jump in position. A snarl formed in his ugly face, yet Aelfwynn’s stance did not falter.

A laugh escaped the leader, making her stare back at him.

‘’Oh, and you _speak_ like him too, lady _._ ’’

She took that one badly, for her father wasn’t exactly known for his wit and manner of speech. More often than not he was arrogant and distasteful. Another reason for her mother to take care of the matters of the council.

Yet their shared blood called for her to defend him, and she did so dutifully.

‘’I will take that as a compliment.’’

The eyes of the man narrowed, dripping melancholy.

‘’It was.’’

Her brows furrowed in confusion. Who was this man anyway? Aelfwynn was starting to believe that he had truly confused her with someone else, for there was no reason for a Dane to praise her father.

His eyes wouldn’t leave her form, and it felt somehow similar to the way her father would look at her, as if he wasn’t seeing Aelfwynn but someone else.

‘’Leave us.’’ He told his men, who left obediently at his words.

Silence stretched between them. Her fingers were starting to hurt from how hard was her grip on the handle of her sword. The cold of the earlier rain had sunk in the air. Small puffs of heat came out of her mouth which each harsh breath.

‘’When I heard of your birth, I damned you.’’ He told her plainly. Aelfwynn gritted her teeth.

‘’Any curses from your fake gods are nothing but words in the air.’’ She spat back him. ‘’They cannot harm me, and neither can you. _Heathen._ ’’

The man seemed surprised at her viciousness, but the coldness of his expression was broken by it, so she took it as a victory. He soon recovered, however, and chuckled at her fury.

‘’And you hate your own so much. There’s your mother’s hand on that.” He shrugged, easing his form and leaning on a tree. She hated him for seeming so relaxed around her, as if there weren't a sword on her hand and her mother wasn't a known warrior.

Her mouth fell open. “My _kind_ -? I’m no heathen!”

The corner of his lip lifted and the half-smile his face offered was terrifying

“Your father was, and your mother didn’t seem to mind half as much.”

The implication left her speechless and blushing furiously. _How dare he-?_

On pure instinct, she swung at him madly. Though taken by surprise, age did not slow him from stopping her thrust with a sword of his own.

It was then that Aelfwynn realized who this man was.

No hand held the sword. It was strapped to his arm, replacing what was lost. Her blood ran cold and her breath hitched. _Sigefrid Thurgilson_.

Time before Aelfwynn was born, when her parents had been newly wedded, her mother had been kidnaped by a pair of Dane warlords. Their names came to her mind. Erik and Sigefrid Thurgilson, whose right hand had been chopped off by Uhtred the Godless, one of her mother’s loyal men.

Aethelflaed had been held captive by them for months. It was a story that everyone knew. Aelfwynn had not even heard it by her mother’s lips, but from the ones of a councilman. Afterwards, she hadn’t dared to ask for details.

‘’That recklessness-‘’ He clicked his tongue. ‘’You may get it from me.’’ And with that, he pushed her to the ground; making her land on her back with a thud.

“You are nothing to me.” She spat at him.

He cocked his head to the side, the pain returning to his eyes.

“I guess you are right, after everything…” Sigefrid shook his head, it seemed like he wanted to say something else. “Your father was the one good with words, he was the mind between us.”

She gasped, wanting to end things quickly. “Stop lying! My father is the Lord of Mercia. I’m Aelfwynn of Mercia!”

His eyes shone with anger.

“Your mother never told you?” He asked her, enraged. Aelfwynn was brave, but she didn't dare to move from her spot in the floor. “Your father was Erik Thurgilson! If anything, he was lord of the bloody Beamfleot.”

Her eyes widened, the thought barely making sense on her head. “My mother is no whore! She would never lay willingly with a Dane.”

The man huffed.

“So did I thought.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “I warned my brother about growing too fond, too _cozy_ with her.” Again, the man shook his head. Aelfwynn kept her eyes on him from the floor, searching desperately from any resemblance between them.

“She couldn't have been willing,” Aelfwynn told him weakly. “She is a good Christian woman, she wouldn't have…”

Sigefrid looked down at her, but his thoughts were somewhere else.

“We could have ruled all of this. Mercia, Wessex, bloody Anglia and Northumbria would have eventually fallen too.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “We could have bought the greatest army with her ransom…”

Shaking, Aelfwynn pushed herself up. She stood almost as tall as Sigefrid, though her shoulders were narrow and her frame slender.

Aelfwynn swallowed. Her eyes went back to her sword, left on the ground. Her mind went to her horse, saddled and tied to a nearby tree. She knew that she was faster than him, if she could make a run for it…

“But we didn’t. My brother betrayed me. He made plans with his princess, they were to run away together.” He laughed bitterly.”He would have raised goats rather than rule with me if it meant to have his bloody princess by his side!”

There was a painful twist on her stomach, and the part of her that refused to believe his words died with it. Her nails cut her palms and a cold sweat ran down her spine.

_Lord, please, let him be lying._

As soon as the fire had ignited on his eyes, it died. They were now plagued by a deep, bone-chilling sadness. One that Aelfwynn wouldn't have expected from a man like him.

“And what happened?” She asked him, enerved. She thought of her mother, who deserved to be loved dearly, yet was bound to a man who did not appreciate her. “Why didn't they succeed?”

She knew the supposed end of the story, Erik, _her father_ , had died on the fire that burned Beamfleot...but something didn't fit quite right on that.

The man shrunk under her inquiring.

“I stopped them.”

Aelfwynn's chest felt tighter, she opened her mouth once more, to curse the man, to spit at him; but all her words had died on her throat. More than ever, she wished to be in her mother's arms and loving embrace.

She took a step back, and Sigefrid's eyes followed her warily.

“He betrayed me.” He repeated, like a priest would repeat a prayer. “He was my brother and I loved him, but…” He closed his eyes and shaked his head in a nervous gesture. “I gave him Valhalla.”

“ _You killed him!_ ” She yelled at him, and Aelfwynn had never raised her voice. It came out like a screech, and tears were already pooling in her eyes.

The man's eyes looked watery, was he crying as well? Aelfwynn felt enraged, he had been the one to kill Erik! It was his fault that his brother was gone! He had no right to mourn him!

Her throat got tight, and breathing suddenly became hard. Aelfwynn didn't knew if it was because of the grief or despair.

She ran.

She did not even took her sword, leaving it discarded on the forest's floor. It had been a gift from Uhtred, for when she had become of age.

God, Uhtred must have known about this all along, Aelfwynn realized.

Her horse was right where she had left him and Aelfwynn wasted no time in getting on. Sweeping her hand through the tears, she swallowed the sobs that threatened to escape her.

Aelfwynn tightened her hold on the saddle.

It felt ridiculous to cry for a Dane that had died years ago, one she had never met yet shared blood with. She wondered if the life she had with Lord Aethelred as father wouldn't have been the same with Erik Thurgilson.

Now she would never know. The thought pained her deeply.

Aelfwynn needed to return as soon as possible, she needed to see her mother.

‘’ _Eiríksdóttir!._ ’’ He shouted at last, when Aelfwynn had gotten on her horse. She froze at the sound of his voice, believing their argument done. This time, his rough voice was broken, and Aelfwynn heard it clearly through the trees.

‘’You should know your name, girl! My, _our_ people would have called you, Aelfwynn _Eiríksdóttir._ ’’

**Author's Note:**

> I know the ending was pretty ambiguous, but that was the point of it. 
> 
> Also, did I totally steal Erik the Red's daughter's last name for Aelfwynn? More likely than you think.
> 
> If you guys enjoyed this, please let me know ;D


End file.
